Neil Lennon doubts Rangers ‘narrative’ as treble mooted with Brendan Rodgers ‘spiky’ at Celtic
Neil Lennon has questioned why the “narrative” around Rangers is so much more positive than it is for Celtic where Brendan Rodger is getting criticised.
The former Parkhead boss responded on PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show on 12 February after Tam McManus had suggested a Light Blues treble this season is “not a million miles away from them” after their Scottish Cup victory over Ayr United.
Philippe Clement has already lifted the League Cup this term after reviving a flagging season, and has closed the gap in the SPFL, but with Celtic still top of the table and unbeaten in their past eight league games Lennon implied the two sides aren’t that different.
He said (25m 40s): “Here’s an interesting narrative. Tam’s saying Rangers are grinding out results. Celtic have won eight and drawn one of their last nine games.
“And that’s pretty impressive, but they’re the ones getting all the criticism, and Brendan’s getting the criticism for, quite rightly, the performances [not] being the level we expect them to be. Should we expect that? This is a newish team and a different coach, but they’re still winning the games.
“But the narrative is Celtic are struggling and Rangers are doing really well… you can understand why Brendan would get a bit spiky about it.”
Lennon questions Rangers praise vs Celtic criticism
There may be a valid point in the current form of the two sides being similar but there is certainly a difference in the atmospheres between the two sides.
As Peter Martin pointed out Rodgers has replaced Ange Postecoglou after the Australian won a treble, and he’s seemingly seen the Hoops regress, even aside from the circumstances of the Northern Irishman’s original departure to Leicester, while Clement has taken over from a failed reign characterised by “claptrap” from Michael Beale.
It also can’t be overlooked that Celtic were seven points clear before the Belgian arrived at Ibrox and he took Rangers level on points at the top with a win over Aberdeen last week.
Clement clearly hasn’t been perfect, and the lone blemish on his record in the 2-1 Old Firm derby defeat on 30 December will loom larger if he doesn’t get a win in the next meeting.
But lifting a trophy and generating a title race that already looked lost when he took the job in mid-October will understandably increase believe behind a side.
The idea of a treble would have been laughed out of the room when Beale lost three in the league before the end of September but, whether it ultimately happens or not, it isn’t a wild suggestion now thanks to the work Clement has done.
In other Rangers news, Michael Stewart was outraged by what he saw at Ibrox.
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